Letter From Senator Warren and Representative Waters

Congress of the United States

Washington, DC 20515

September 30, 2025

Chairman Tim Scott

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban

Affairs

United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Chairman French Hill
Committee on Financial Services
United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Scott and Chairman Hill:

We write today to request that you hold hearings in the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs and the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services regarding allegations from whistleblowers inside the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that HUD leadership is systemically failing to enforce fair housing and civil rights laws. Specifically, we urge you to call HUD Secretary Scott Turner up to testify before Congress and answer for the Department’s alleged failure to follow the law.

HUD is responsible for implementing and enforcing the Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).’ These laws offer critical protection to ensure that people across the country can access safe, affordable housing on fair and equal terms. HUD’s Office of Fair Housing (OFH) within the Department’s Office of General Counsel and its Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) play key roles in HUD’s efforts to ensure compliance with its legal obligations.²

Yet, according to current and former employees within OFH and FHEO, HUD leadership is systemically undermining the Department’s fair housing, civil rights, and VAWA implementation and enforcement efforts, putting the Department on “an unalterable course towards violating its statutory and regulatory obligations” to the American public.³ Specifically:

1 “HUD, “Report Housing Discrimination,” https://www.hud.gov/reporthousingdiscrimination; HUD Exchange, Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws, Guidance, and Tools, https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/fair-housing/laws- guidance-tools/#laws.
2 HUD, “About the Office of General Counsel- Fair Housing,” https://www.hud.gov/stat/ogc-about.

3

Letter from Senator Warren to Acting Inspector General Brian D. Harrison, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, September 22, 2025,
https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/minority/breaking-new-hud-whistleblower-claims-expose-trump-
administrations-targeted-attacks-on-civil-rights-warren-calls-for-independent-investigation.